24 Jul 2016

Members of Parliament (MP’s) on Thursday expressed different views on the Constitution Amendment Bill which seeks to increase the number of specially elected members from four to six.

Section 58 (2) (b) of the Constitution provides that there shall be four specially elected members who shall be elected in accordance with the first schedule to the Constitution.

The object of the bill therefore is to increase the number of members from four to six.

Debating the bill, the MP for Gaborone Bonnington South, Mr Ndaba Gaolathe said he believed the addition of two more members would not enhance any checks and balances of Parliament for the development of Batswana.

He said the appointment of additional members was necessary in the past because there was a need for expertise, adding that there was expert and skills capacity in Parliament which was not utilised.

Mr Gaolathe said there was need for the introduction of an independent parliamentary service that would address the issue of separation of powers so as to move away from the current system where Parliament was executive minded.

With such an office  in place, he said there would be a budget office which would perform an economic analysis to assess if two additional members were necessary.

The MP for Boteti West, Mr Slumber Tsogwane supported the bill, saying it augmented the fact that Botswana’s electoral system does not require any qualifications offering to guarantee that all expertise needed would be elected.

He said it was important for MP numbers to grow because Parliament committees needed members, noting that currently one MP had a minimum of three committees to attend.

The MP for Kanye South, Mr Abram Kesupile said he believed that if two more members were added the amendments would keep coming so that more and more people were appointed specially elected MPs.

He said the amendment does not help Parliament in any way, but rather gave the executive more powers and strength because of the separation of powers.

However, he said the amendment would be welcome if it catered for marginalised groups such as people living with disability.

The MP for Selebi Phikwe West, Mr Dithapelo Keorapetse said it was desirable that such a bill that calls for the amendment of the Constitution was put through a referendum.

He said the bill does not help Parliament in any way, but that it reduces the strength of the back bench thus giving more strength to the executive.

He highlighted that they were waiting for the decentrilisation of government services so as to give local government power to deal with water and health issues among others.

Mr Keorapetse said the appointment of additional members would result in Parliament incurring more expenditure in salaries and allowances which he said could be channeled to unemployment, poverty, water and electricity shortage.

The MP for Shashe West, Mr Fidelis Molao said he supported the bill because the principle of increasing members served its purpose.

He said the opposition was trying to disintegrate and derail them by saying that the back bench was not recognised.

Mr Molao said the money that would be paid two more members would not go to waste contrary to what MP’s think because the members would be paid for the work they perform.

The MP for Tlokweng, Ms Same Bathobakae said the special election of MP’s was meant to augment for missing skills in Parliament, and therefore said it had lost its meaning.

She said the amendment would be welcome if it brought more youth and women into Parliament.

She said women possess skills that were needed in Parliament and that they should not be overlooked for such appointments. Ms Bathobakae said it was time Botswana emulated countries such as Rwanda who recognise women by electing them to Parliament. Ends